Cable feeding mechanism



Nov. 11, `1941.` H. HGEL mL 2,262,364

` CABLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'FigurPatented Nov. 11,l 1941 UNITED. STATE s PATENT OFFICE CABLE FEEDINGMECHANTSM` Helmut Hgel, Campina, Rumania, and Clarence R.Dale, BeverlyHills, Calii'., assignors of onchalf to Shell Development Company, SanFrancisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware, and

one-half to Dale Service Corporation, Culver City, Calif., a corporationof California .I

Application February 15, 1940, semi No. 319,088

s claims. (ci. 1661-14) The present invention .relates to oil well toolsand pertains more particularly to a device for feeding cable intoa wellcasing or tubing under y pressure.=

, It is often desirable during the, operation of a flowing well underpressure ,to introduce thereinto on a cable various tools or devicessuch as Figurel 2 is a vertical sectional view along the Figure 3 is across sectional view along the line II'I-III of Figure 2. Figure 4 is avertical sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 3. l

pressure or temperature recorders, level indicators, etc. This isgenerally accomplished by first installing a lubricator, which consistsof a pipe nipple placed above the gate valve on the Christ-v mas tree oron theywell head and packer on top of the nipple. 'I'he desired tool isthen introduced into the nipple, the packerl closed about the cable, thegate valve opened, and the tool .lowered into the well.

In order to overcome the .well pressure. which p reachessometimesveryhigh values and tends to force the cable out of the well, itis generallynecessary to attach weights ,or "sinkers to the n lower end ofthe cableeither below or above the vtool.4 When a wire line or. a small diametercable is used, tools can be successfully introduced into a Well by thismeans. kAHowever, when it is necessary or desirable to use a relativelylarge diameter cable, it is not practical in "most cases to use asufficient amountof "sinkers to overcome the well pressure and thefriction of the packerv on the cable. For example, in a,y wellwithapressure' of 1000 pounds a one-half inch y cable having a crosssectional area of about onefifth of a square inch would have a pressureagainst it of 2 00 pounds. Added to this would be the frlcton'of thepackerV against the calrle which is usually greater than 200 pounds fora 1000 pound pressure in a well. Thus to insert a tool or apparatus Vona one-haltinch cable into a well with `a`l000 pound pressure, enough'Asinkers would have to be attached to the cable to make the total weightof the tool land sinkers more than 400 pounds.

line V--V of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view of still'vr another modification.

Briefly, the present invention comprises two parallel sets of verticallyarranged wheels within a. housing, means for moving the sets of wheelshorizontally. toward each other and thus `for clamping about the cable,and means foi-positively rotating at least one of said wheels. where--byb the cable Lis forced into the well without the aid of sinkers."

Referring to Figure l1 a preferred embodiment comprises a'housing Ifitted between the packer 2 and pipe nipple 3 of a conventionallubricator, thepipe 3 being provided with a gatevalve (not shown in thedrawings) below the housing I. The housing generally designated as I mayas shownI comprise'an intermediate tubular portion Ia threadably orsuitably attached between two bell reducers In. A hydraulic motor 4supplied with pressure fluid fromthe well through va conduit Bispreferably used as a source of .motive power through a shaft B-to ythedriving mechanism within the housing I, although any other suitablemeans, such as an electric motor or hand power,'may.be used to rotatethe shaft 6.

Referring to Figures 2 to 5 which show` a pre` ferred arrangement of thecablefeeding mech- .anism within the housing I`, a set of driving It is,therefore, the purpose of ...the present inp vention to provide a cablefeeding mechanism which eliminates the necessity of using weights orsinkers.

It is a further object tol provide adevice inV which power derived fromthe well pressure is utilized to `feed the cable into the well.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription Vtaken in reference to the drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a sid elevation showing a preferred embodiment of the cablelfeeding mecha' nism and a packer above it.'

`I3 are parallel to etch other and disposed wheels II and a set ofpressure wheelsl I2 and either side of the cable I4.

The pressure or -i'dler wheels^i2 and AI3 are carried on a movable yokeI5, which is adapted to move horizontally along the guides Il by meansofa hand .screw I1. The hand screw l1 passes through a threaded opening I8`in the housing I and packing gland I9 and nut 20 and j terminates in ahand'wheel 2|.` -In a preferredY -arrangement there areA four pressurewheels, of

which the upper and lower ones are guiding rolllers I2 and theintermediate ones are sheaves 55 I3. It is also preferable that theaxial pointsof selected that said sheaves I3 come in contact with thecable Il slightly ahead of the roller wheels I2, for a subsequentlydescribed purpose. The driving wheels may be pivoted in a fixedAposition within the housing, as shown, or, if desired, may be. carriedby a. horizontally movable yoke fitted with a handscrew and similar toyoke I5. The driving wheels II are preferably sheaves and may beprovided with fine teeth, for example, of the order of sz of inch deepand of inch apart, in order to grip the cable more firmly, although inordinary cases a satisfactory gripping or frictional engagement may beobtained with atfaced wheels orv sheaves. 'I'he terms grippingengagement or frictional engagement are, therefore, used in thisspecification to describe the action of either the toothed or theflat-faced wheels or sheaves on the cable. In a preferred arrangement,two driving lwheels Il are spaced so that the horizontal plane of theaxis of the upper driving wheel II is between the horizontal planes ofthe axes of the upper two pressure wheels I2 and I3, while the plane ofthe axis of the lowerwheel II is between that of the axes of the twolower pressure wheels I2 and I3. By this arrangement, and due to thestaggered. points of Ycontact of the elements I2 and I3 with the cable,the latter is deflected slightly about the driving wheels II, thusincreasing the length of contact of the cable Il with/the driving WheelsII, and improving the grip of said wheels on the cable.

The wheels I I are driven by the spur wheels 2E mounted on the shafts2'I of the driving wheels I I and actuated by the driving spur wheell 25mounted on the shaft 6 of the hydraulic motor 4 as shownin Figure 5. Theconduit 5 provided with a regulating valve 28 communicates between themotor I and the lower portion of the housing I, whereby the motive`power for rotating the motor 4 is supplied by the well pressure. The

motor 4 may be of any suitable type of hydraulic motor operated by iluidpressure.

It is, however, obvious that the present invention is in no way limitedto the above-described preferred embodiment, since excellent results maybe obtained with an arrangement involving only one driving wheel and twopressure wheels, or two driving lwheels and one pressure wheel, as shownin Figures 6 and 7, respectively. In some cases, the use of one drivingwheel and one pressure wheel or sheave, as shown in Figure 8, givessatisfactory results.

In operation, the gate valve below the housing I is closed, the packer 2is opened or removed, and the set of pressure wheels I2 and I3 carriedby the yoke I5 is moved outward along its guides IS by rotating the hand.screwfII lby means of the hand wheel 2|. The instrument or device whichit is desired to introduce into the well is then lowered through thehousing and between the sets of wheels and into the pipe nipple 3 belowthe housing I and above the gate valve at the well head. 'Ihe packer 2is then closedabout the cable I4. The pressure wheels are moved inwardagainst the cable to force it against the driving wheels II. The gatevalve may then be opened and the regulating valve 28 opened, allow- .ingthe well pressure through the pipe nipple 3 and the conduit 5. to causethe rotation of the motor l andits shaft 8. The revolution of the shaft8 causes the rotation of the spur wheel 25 which engages and in tiu'nrotates the spur I3 A and the roller wheels I2 are soplaced and/orwheels 2s and the driving wheels on the shaft 21. By clockwise rotationof the driving wheels II as shown in Figure 2, the cable with thedesired device attached to the lower end thereof pressure well casings,a housing in communication with the well, packer means for passing acable into the well through said housing while maintaining said housingat the well pressure, wheels rotatably supported within the housing,said wheels being in gripping engagement with said cable at dametricallyopposite sides thereof, and means to rotate at least one of said wheelswhereby the cable is drawn into the well against the pressure therein.

2. In a mechanism for drawing a cable into pressure well casings, ahousing in communication with the well, packer means for passing a cableinto the well through said housing while maintaining said housing at theWell pressure, wheels rotatably supported within the housing atdiametrically opposite sides of said cable, means for moving said wheelshorizontally with regard to each other until said cable isfrictionally-engaged between said opposite wheels, and means to rotateat least one of said wheels Whereby the `cable is drawn into the wellagainst th pressure therein.

3. Ina mechanism for drawing a cable into pressure well casings, ahousing in communication with the well, packer means for passing a cableinto the well through said housing while maintaining said housing at thewell pressure, at least one driver Wheel rotatably supported within saidhousing `at one side of said cable, a plurality of pressure wheelsrotatably supported within said casing at the diametrically oppositeside of said cable, the rotation axes of said driver and said pressurewheels being staggered with regard to each other in a vertical plane,means for moving said opposite wheels horizontally with regard to eachother until said cable is frictionally engaged therebetween, and meansto rotateat least one driver wheel whereby the cable is drawn into thewell against the pressure therein.

4. In a mechanism for drawing a cable into, pressure well casings, ahousing in communication with the well, packer means for passing a cableinto the well through said housing while maintaining said housing at thewell pressure, at least one driver wheel rotatably supported within saidhousing at one side of said cable, a plurality of pressure wheels ofunequal diameter rotatably supported within said casing at thediametrically opposite side of said cable, the rotation axes of saiddriver and said pressure wheels being staggered with regard to eachother in a vertical plane, means for moving said opposite wheelshorizontally with regard to each other until said cable is pressed intoasinuous position by frictional engagement between said staggered driverandpressure wheels, and means to rotate at least one of said driverwheels whereby the cable is' drawn into the well against lthe pressuretherein. l

5. In a mechanism for drawing ya cable into pressure well casings, ahousing in communication with the well, packer means for passing a y2,2oa,se4 a y 3 cable into the weil through said housing whilemaintaining said housing at the well pressure, wheels rotatablysupported withinv said housing, said wheels being in gripping engagementwith said cable at diametrically opposite sides thereof, a pressuredriven motor, a pressure conduit between salti5 motor and the well, andtransmission means between said motor and at least one of said-wheelsior rotating said wheels whereby the cable is drawninto the wellagainst the pressure lo therein. 1

6.' In amechanism for drawing acabie into pressure wells,v a housing incommunication with the well, packer means for passing th'e cable intothe well through said housing while maintaining said housing at the wellpressure, a plurality of rotatable friction elements mounted within saidhousing, said elements being positioned to grip said cable therebetween,and means to rotate at least one of said elements whereby the cable isdrawn into the well against the pressure therein.

,HELMUT HGEL. n CLARENCE R.DALE.

